The word 杀戮 is formed through the classic Chinese method of combining two characters with nearly identical meanings to create a single, more intense and comprehensive concept. The first character, 杀, means "to kill" or "to slaughter". The second, 戮, also means "to kill", but historically carries connotations of mass execution or public slaughter, often as a punishment. By placing them side-by-side, the word amplifies and generalizes the idea, moving from a simple act of killing to convey a broader, more brutal, and often large-scale sense of massacre, carnage, or wholesale slaughter.